The battle of the high end cream shadows

Now, cream eyeshadows have become very popular in the past few years and I must say I think they're very handy. I own five, all high end, shockingly I haven't tried the Maybelline colour tattoos, and use at least one pretty much every day. I have two Mac paintpots, one Makeup Forever aqua cream, one Benefit creaseless cream shadow/liner and one Bobbi Brown long-wear cream shadow.

I thought I'd talk you through them from my least favourite, to my favourite starting off with one of my Mac paint pots. The first is in the shade bare study. It's a light, almost white shimmer. It's described as a 'soft beige with shimmer' on the website. I would say it's a lot lighter than beige, it's much more champagne coloured. The colour doesn't apply exceptionally evenly on my lids whether I use
a brush or my fingers which I think is due to the shimmer, and it doesn't last fantastically. As a product, it doesn't smell too offensive and I like the packaging. It's the biggest out of my cream shadows and I like that as it looks the most appealing on my desk.

 Secondly is my newest edition to my cream eyeshadow collection. The Makeup Forever aqua cream in the shade 16. This certainly is the worst smelling product. It smells like paint. It makes me slightly wary to put it on my eyes but there definitely isn't any type of irritation, but my eyes aren't sensitive. It's a pink/rose shimmer which when swatched is gorgeous and looks just as nice in the pot. I looked up the shade on Sephora and it is called 'Pink beige' and labelled as a 'pinky beige shimmer' which although not as I've described, I would agree with. However, once applied I find, like Bare Study it isn't particularly even. I tend to find I get small patches where the shimmer appears to have clumped together. The staying power is good. I would say it lasts just as well as my favourite out of the cream eyeshadows, I just find the application not particularly easy.

In third place is Mac's Painterly paintpot. This is something that I can use on a day-to-day minimal makeup basis. It is pretty much skin coloured. It evens out my eyelids and provides slight definition. However, just

like the first paint pot I don't feel the staying power is great.


                       

Fourth comes Benefit. I have the creaseless cream shadow/liner in the shade Stiletto which I now know to have been discontinued which I am very disappointed about. It is the PERFECT autumn colour which I wear on it's own smudged around the eyes, or layered underneath Mac's Cranberry eyeshadow for a slightly more dramatic look. It's a dark plum colour that can be blended out to be much more subtle and the texture is beautiful. It's smooth, easy to work with and provides a slightly matte finish that I love. However, it couldn't reach first place for a few reasons. The first was that it was discontinued, the second, it has a slightly pungent smell and the third was that the staying power was just not as good as the final one. It lasts for a few hours, but isn't spectacular.

Finally there is my favourite of the bunch, the Bobbi Brown long-wear cream shadow in shade 9 galaxy. It is described as a 'deep silver shimmer' which I would certainly agree with. I bought it for prom where I was wearing a red and black dress and was going for a grey smokey eye with a slightly nude lip. Now I wear this
nearly every day with a light hand. I love the shade. It seems to make my green eyes pop and it gives a
perfectly even application even with the shimmer. It last pretty much all day, which on my eyes is impressive. I have oily lids and everything creases on me, but not this. It's perfect!

Swatches:

Left to right:: Bare study, 16, Painterly, Stiletto, Galaxy

Prices:
Mac paint pot £15 (5 grams)
Makeup forever aqua cream $23 (about £15) (6 grams)
Benefit creaseless cream shadow/liner £15.50 (4.5 grams)
Bobbi brown long wear cream shadow £18.50 (3.5 grams)

Sidenote:
1. Anyone notice the prices have gone up again?! Particularly Mac.
2. Apologies for the bad quality of the photos, I'm currently using the camera on my mobile phone which is NOT the best
2. I realise I'm not replying to comments/following people etc... I'm still getting the hang of this and am just concentrating on getting posts out there and starting college before I investigate the rest of the blogging world. So just bare with me and eventually I'll return favours and whatnot. Thanks!

Bath and body works haul!

Hey guys,
My first blog post! oh I'm a little nervous haha. So recently I went on an amazing holiday with my family to the Sunny California in USA. We also visited Utah, Arizona etc, we did a road trip!
I obviously couldn't go all the way there without doing a little shopping. The place I was most excited about was Bath and Body works which I visited in the Forum Shops in Las Vegas. Las Vegas was honestly one of the best experiences of my life, as was the rest of it.

I didn't buy much, only five things and with much on sale/with deals on it came to a rather reasonable, approximate $22 (I think tax may have been added), which for what I got would be a very difficult price to come buy back home here in sunny England, however, that may simply be because it is in dollars.

Of course I couldn't resist buying a candle. I love candles; I certainly don't burn them all the time but they're perfect for eradicating that awful headache I used to get from the smell of nail polish when I paint my nails. After smelling pretty much every candle in the shop I settled on my favourite scent, Leaves. 

This is a candle that I have often seen floating around on Youtube and was surprised when it turned out to be the one I favoured. It smells of apple and Cinnamon and to me makes me think of Apple Strudel, one of my favourite things to eat. I love it! The price is labelled $11.

One a three for $10 I picked up three travel sized body sprays. The first being Be Enchanted which is possibly my least favourite of the three. It's a lovely scent on the face of it but after the second spray a dark musky scent hits the back of your throat. It is nice, but more for a night out than a casual day, and if I'm going for a night out I'm more likely to reach for a perfume.

The second scent, Coconut Lime has surprised me by managing to come out as my favourite. I hate coconut, I've always hated the taste and the scent but in this it is just beautiful. The lime blends into it to prevent the coconut from being far too heavy and it's perfect for everyday wear. It's a fresh but still sweet scent.

Lastly is the first one I picked up in the shop, Pink Chiffron. Now this is girly. It's sugary sweet with perhaps a slight slight note of floral but nothing offensive. I do like it, a lot, but it's not something I'd be reaching for a lot as I tend to jump for slightly more...sophisticated scents. But it's great for those days where I want to be casual, girly and feel good about myself.

Then finally I couldn't resist the antibacterial hand gels that I've heard people talk about so often. I only bought one and I must admit I haven't used it yet. 

I purchased the 'Farmstand Apple' scent which smells lovely. I can't comment on the texture yet as I've yet to use it. 

All the products here, if they make an impact as to whether I think they're life changing or terrible, as with anything I'll mention in a haul, I'll do a full review on in the future.

Prices/Where to buy:

Leaves Candle: $11

Body sprays: A reasonable $6 each which becomes a steal at the 3 for $10!

Hand gel: $1.75

Some products may be available in the UK from http://www.bathandbodyshop.co.uk/ which I found through researching it myself. However I've never ordered from there and it does not sell the full range from what I can see.

Have any of you tried Bath and Body Works products?